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The average price of hay in the various markets accessible to 

 the farmers of Middlesex is not less than 15 dollars : the cost of 

 getting per ton is considered as two and a half dollars, and the 

 expense of marketing as two and a half dollars. This would 

 leave the worth of the hay to the farmer ten dollars per ton ; 

 and, placing the average yield of an acre at one ton and a half, 

 it would give a net profit per acre, in hay, at fifteen dollars. — 

 The elements of this calculation are unquestionable and the re- 

 sults therefore equally certain. The grass crop must be consid- 

 ered, where there is a quick market for hay, as eminently a 

 profitable crop. How far is it an impoverisher of the soil ? — 

 This is a question which deserves consideration. In this re- 

 spect different grasses will be found to differ from each other. 



Although, from the absolute and inherent obscurity of the 

 subject, it certainly is not placed beyond doubt and question, 

 yet it seems generally admitted that plants which mature their 

 seeds exhaust the soil much more than those which are cropped 

 before the perfection of the seed ; and this on the assumption, 

 that that which goes to the formation of the stem and leaves of 

 the plant is derived from the air, while that which goes to the 

 formation of its seeds is derived from the soil. This may be 

 so, but must, I believe, be considered at present as purely the- 

 oretical. It will not be questioned however that, the larger the 

 plant and the longer it continues growing upon the soil, the 

 greater demands it must make either upon the earth or the air 

 for the supply of its food and the perfection of its growth. — 

 Grass, being cut early and usually in the season of flowering, 

 exhausts the soil less than those plants which are allowed to re- 

 main until they are perfected. 



Grasses, whatever they take from the earth, necessarily leave 

 a large portion behind. Their roots are abundant ; and, the of- 

 tener they are cut, seem the more to extend themselves and be- 

 come the more thickly matted. The tap-root of the clover 

 plant leaves a large amount in the soil ; it contributes likewise 

 to loosen the soil and render it the more permeable to mois- 

 ture ; and its expansive and abundant leaves gather a large 



